TRUSTEE BARRERA TO HEAD INFLUENTIAL LABOR GROUP

San Diego 
San Diego city schools trustee Richard Barrera on Wednesday was named to succeed Lorena Gonzalez as head of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council.

Delegates for the organization voted to appoint Barrera after he was strongly endorsed by Gonzalez when she formally announced her resignation as secretary-treasurer of the influential labor group.

She’s stepping down after her landslide election win Tuesday over fellow Democrat Steve Castaneda for the 80th District Assembly seat.

In a letter to union members, Gonzalez praised Barrera’s long record of working as a community organizer and for his work with several unions, including the United Healthcare Workers, the United Domestic Workers and the California Nurses Association.

Barrera, 46, a Golden Hill resident, has served on the San Diego Unified school board since 2008 and has worked for union organizations for the past decade. Barrera said he will remain on the school board.

“I’ve devoted my career to helping working families build their own capacity to advocate for a better life,” Barrera said. “It is about helping working families get out of poverty and create a better future for their families and for their kids.”

The Labor Council represents about 140 union organizations that represent nearly 200,000 workers.